Eagle girls defeat Wildcats

UNIONTOWN — Uniontown High’s girls began to take flight after halftime Friday of their contest against visiting Marmaton Valley High.
The Eagles turned a four-point lead into a 23-point advantage by the end of the third quarter of their 63-42 win.
The victory lifts Uniontown’s record to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in Three Rivers League play. The Wildcats fell to 2-12 and 1-4.
“We came out of halftime and played inspired ball,” Uniontown head coach Ken Holt said. “Our defense fueled our offense.”
The Wildcats kept things interesting through the first half.
Uniontown led 17-14 after one quarter and 28-24 at the break.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the girls,” Marmaton Valley head coach Kent Houk said, noting that Uniontown had already defeated Marmaton Valley convincingly earlier this season.
“We were able to break their press, and that led to three layups for us,” Houk said.
Marmaton Valley played one night after collecting their second win of the season on Thursday against Crest.
“You could tell the girls were tired in the second half, especially after playing their hearts out the night before,” Houk said. “But they didn’t give up. We probably played better in the first half tonight than we did (Thursday).”
The Eagles’ 27-8 third-quarter spurt gave Uniontown a 55-32 cushion.
Abbie Smith and Jacy Ermel each scored 17 points for the Eagles. The pair combined to score 19 of the Eagles’ 27 points in the third quarter. Breanna Esslinger led the squad with seven boards, while Smith and Hope Jurgenson had five and four steals, respectively. Candice Clayton and Tiffany Poyner had five and four assists, respectively.
Also having a hand in the Eagles’ 21 steals as a team were Poyner and Esslinger with three each, and Ermel, Hayden Rathbun and Clayton, all with two.
Maggie Meiwes paced the Wildcats with 13 points. Alysha Westhoff added 11. Meiwes and Morgan Henry both had 10 rebounds. Cheyanne Miller had nine rebounds.
Both teams hit the road on Tuesday. Uniontown travels to Central Heights; Marmaton Valley to Lebo.
Marmaton Valley (14-10-8-10—42) (FG/3-pt): McNutt 0-2-0-2, Boyd 2-0-0-4, Miller 1-2-0-4, McEndree 1-0-0-2, Westhoff 2/1-4-0-11, Meiwes 6-1-0-13, Henry 2-0-0-4, Shadden 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 15/1-9-0-42.
Uniontown (17-11-27-8—63) (FG/3-pt): Murrow 1-0-0-2, Clayton 2-0-0-4, Rathbun 4-0-0-8, Smith 6-5-0-17, Poyner 2-0-0-4, Ermel 6-5-0-17, Jurgensen 2-0-0-4, Harper 0/1-0-0-3, Esslinger 0/1-1-0-4. TOTALS: 23/2-11-0-63.